Yummiest payasam…
Howz everyone doing? I’d mentioned about Onam in my last post, Onam was celebrated on Wednesday. On Wednesday, I’d a get together with two of my friends/research mates and we cooked a few dishes together. They are from China, so one of them made a couple of authentic Chinese dishes. I made my all time favorite Ground beef Pizza and Boli. Then, we all got together and made the Japanese cheese cake. It was so much fun making the cheese cake as it was my first time making a cheese cake. It turned out delicious and we shared it with other friends at the University as well. Do you think I would come back without writing down the recipe? No way! I’ve noted down the recipe and will soon share the recipe with you all so that you can taste it too. It doesn’t have any crust and it tasted very similar to creme brulee, flan etc.
So, after all the cooking spree on Wednesday, I logged into Facebook and saw more tempting pictures of Sadya. That encouraged me to partially make up my mind to make sadya. Then, I talked to my mom and sister. What did they talk about? Sadya! As my mom is staying at my sister’s house for a few days, they made a lot of dishes together. We talked about different sadya dishes for a long time and as usual I clarified some of the recipes with my mom and noted down all the tips for making it delicious. After hanging up the phone, I totally made up my mind to make at least a mini version of sadya. Before making sadya, I’d to go on a shopping spree to get all those vegetables and other ingredients. Here are the list of things to buy that I’d made before I geared up for shopping. I know, I know…I am still old fashioned writing on a paper rather than typing on the cell phone notepad 🙂
There is a huge Asian store in my city, there is no better place than that to go for a sadya shopping. They literally carry all the veggies, fruits and sea food that’s available in Kerala. Yes, they even got banana leaf, banana flower, drumsticks, curry leaves etc etc. I stacked up my shopping cart with all the healthy veggies and stood at the check out with content feeling 🙂
I took a day off from work on Thursday exclusively for making Sadya. I did feel a bit lazy in the morning, I was seen glued to the couch and laptop for sometime. Finally, I did overcome the laziness, turned on my favorite songs and got into the kitchen. Though I am passionate about cooking, at times I’ll be hit by laziness. However, the moment I enter the kitchen and slowly start out the cooking, I’ll be seen totally involved in cooking. Once I start my cooking spree, it’s hard for me to stop it and I would want to make as many dishes as possible. I wanted to go lil overboard this time too making all the sadya dishes, then I kinda stopped after I’d made a few good dishes.
Here is the collage of the Sadya dishes I’d prepared:
From top left: Carrot payasam, Avial (mixed veggie with raw mango in coconut), Mixed veggie thoran or stir fry, Pineapple pulissery or sweet and sour pineapple
Bottom from left: Rasam or spicy and tangy curry, Sambar or mixed veggie curry, Inji curry or Ginger pickle and the dishes served on banana leaf
And here is the mini version of Sadya served on banana leaf:
I don’t make sadya and all these dishes that often, hence whenever I make Sadya I’ll be seen enjoying it as if I am having it for the first time. Sadya always amazes me as each and every dish is different and tastes unique. After tasting all the dishes, a myriad of flavors will do a happy dance in your mouth from spicy to tangy to sour to sweet.
For dessert, many kinds of payasam and pradhaman will be served at the end. Among them, semiya or vermicelli payasam is one of the most popular ones and my favorite too. At first, I was leaning towards making that. If so my hubby wouldn’t be able to enjoy as vermicell or semiya is made of wheat. I couldn’t even think of finishing up the whole payasam by myself and to go into a payasam coma. So, had to think of other gluten free options. I was instantly reminded of Carrot halwa, one of my favorite Indian desserts. I kept thinking of that and ended up making this Carrot payasam. It tasted so delicious. I roasted the grated carrots in ghee (clarified butter) which made the carrots taste flavorful and aromatic. I think I like this payasam better than semiya payasam, really???
Carrot Payasam
Ingredients
- Carrot grated- 1, large carrot ( 1 1/2 cups)
- Condensed milk- 150 mL or according to your needs
- Whole cardamom, crushed- 3 or use 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
- Milk, skim or whole- 2 cups
- Tapioca pearls or sabudana or sago- 1/2 cup soaked in water for an hour (optional)
- Ghee or clarified butter- 3 tbsp to roast carrots + 2 tbsp to drizzle at the end
- Water- 1/4 cup
- Cashew nuts, roasted in ghee- 10
- Raisins, roasted in ghee- 2 tbsp
- Grated coconut or small (1/2 inch) coconut pieces, roasted in ghee- 2 tbsp or a few pieces (optional)
Instruction
- Soak the tapioca pearls or sabudana in water taken a large bowl for an hour or so. It will plump up as it gets soaked so keep it in a large bowl. If you don’t have tapioca pearls you can skip adding this.
- Grate a large carrot using a grater and keep aside.
- Place a large wide non-stick pan over medium heat.
- Add 3 tbsp ghee, add the grated carrots into it and saute for a few minutes.
- Add water and cook covered till the carrot gets tender and no longer tastes raw.
- Let the water dry off.
- Add condensed milk to the cooked carrots and saute for a couple of minutes.
- Add crushed cardamoms or ground cardamom, combine well.
- Right after you add cardamom, it starts to smell aromatic. I was taking a few deep breaths in….so so refreshing!
- Add the soaked and drained tapioca pearls, combine well and cook for a few minutes.
- Now, add the milk and cook covered for a few minutes till it’s slightly thickened and it comes to a slight boil.
- Taste and add more condensed milk if you want it be more sweeter.
- In the mean time, roast cashew nuts, raisins and coconut in 2 tbsp ghee one by one using the same small frying pan. Keep aside.
- Open the lid and garnish the carrot payasam with the roasted cashew nuts, raisins and coconut.
- Drizzle 2 tbsp ghee over it and cover the pan with its lid.
- Remove from the heat and let stand for sometime.
- Serve in dessert bowls after it has cooled down a bit. You could even chill this in the refrigerator, tastes much better.
Tips:
- Adding coconut is just optional, you can ignore that. However, adding coconut slices roasted in ghee makes this payasam even more tastier, I love the bite of the coconuts. I didn’t have coconut slices sp added grated coconut instead.
- If you don’t like tapioca pearls, you can ignore that too. By adding this it will thicken up the payasam.
- Carrot grated- 1, large carrot ( 1½ cups)
- Condensed milk- 150 mL or according to your needs
- Whole cardamom, crushed- 3 or use ½ tsp ground cardamom
- Milk, skim or whole- 2 cups
- Tapioca pearls or sabudana or sago- ½ cup soaked in water for an hour
- Ghee or clarified butter- 3 tbsp to roast carrots + 2 tbsp to drizzle at the end
- Water- ¼ cup
- Cashew nuts, roasted in ghee- 10
- Raisins, roasted in ghee- 2 tbsp
- Grated coconut or small (1/2 inch) coconut pieces, roasted in ghee- 2 tbsp or a few pieces (optional)
- Soak the tapioca pearls or sabudana in water taken a large bowl for an hour or so. It will plump up as it gets soaked so keep it in a large bowl. If you don't have tapioca pearls you can skip adding this.
- Grate a large carrot using a grater and keep aside.
- Place a large wide non-stick pan over medium heat.
- Add 3 tbsp ghee, add the grated carrots into it and saute for a few minutes.
- Add water and cook covered till the carrot gets tender and no longer tastes raw.
- Let the water dry off.
- Add condensed milk to the cooked carrots and saute for a couple of minutes.
- Add crushed cardamoms or ground cardamom, combine well.
- Right after you add cardamom, it starts to smell aromatic. I was taking a few deep breaths in....so so refreshing!
- Add the soaked and drained tapioca pearls, combine well and cook for a few minutes.
- Now, add the milk and cook covered for a few minutes till it's slightly thickened and comes to a slight boil.
- Taste and add more condensed milk if you want it be more sweeter.
- In the mean time, roast cashew nuts, raisins and coconut in 2 tbsp ghee one by one using the same small frying pan. Keep aside.
- Open the lid and garnish the carrot payasam with the roasted cashew nuts, raisins and coconut.
- Drizzle 2 tbsp ghee over it and cover the pan with its lid.
- Remove from the heat and let stand for sometime.
- Serve in dessert bowls after it has cooled down a bit. You could even chill this in the refrigerator, tastes much better.
If you don't like tapioca pearls, you can ignore that too. Tapioca pearls will thicken up the payasam.
